Russian President Vladimir Putin did exactly what he had called for last Sunday, May 11, when he proposed returning to the successful Istanbul negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022. The team that he appointed reflects that successful 2022 team, including the same leader of the delegation, Vladimir Medinsky.
They arrived in Istanbul this morning and waited, while Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided whether Kiev would send a delegation. Zelenskyy, who had spent five days in a clownish effort to redirect the Istanbul negotiation away from substantial issues and into a public relations showdown with Putin, was somewhat disoriented, and announced that he needed a lengthy meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before he could decide what to do. When he arrived in Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, he complained about the Russian delegation to reporters: “We don’t yet know the official level of Russians, but from what we see, it looks phony.” Then he posted: “Our delegation is of the highest level, including representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, my Office, the military and intelligence…. The level of the Russian delegation remains officially unknown to me, but from what we see, it appears more decorative than substantive. We will decide our next steps after talks with President Erdoğan….”
U.S. and European officials, as reported in yesterday’s Washington Post, had said that Zelenskyy was prepared to cancel the negotiations as he “didn’t see the point in going at all.” Whatever occurred during that lengthy meeting, Zelenskyy finally announced that he would send a delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The process took so long that there was no time left for the expected first session, now planned for Friday, May 16.
Zelenskyy explained: “Despite the relatively low level of the Russian delegation, out of respect for President Trump, out of respect for the high level of the Turkish delegation and for President Erdoğan, we still want to try to take at least the first steps towards a ceasefire, so I have decided to send our delegation to Istanbul now….” Then he posted on X his report of his meeting with Erdoğan: “Today, Russia once again demonstrated that it does not intend to end the war, having sent a delegation of rather low-level representatives. Moreover, such a Russian approach is a sign of disrespect—toward the world and all partners. We expect a clear and strong response from partners.”
